Lubricating device



May 16, 1939. J. o. LEWIS LUBRICATING DEVICE Filed Aug. 12, 1937Inventor: John 0. Lewis, by k Hic Artgrney Patented May 16, 1939 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE LUBRICATING DEVICE York Application August 12,1937, Serial No. 158,724

6 Claims.

My invention relates to oil reservoir bearing lubricating devices of thetype employing a storage reservoir in which lubricant is contained belowatmospheric pressure above an outlet formed in the lower part thereof,and from which the flow of oil is regulated by the admission of air tothe upper portion of the reservoir.

An object of my invention is to provide an improved and simplifiedlubricating device of the type above set forth.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent andmy invention will be better understood from the following descriptionreferring to the accompanying drawing, and

5 the features of novelty which characterize my invention will bepointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming partof this specification.

In the drawing, the single figure is an electric motor end shieldshowing in cross section a bearing and lubricating device embodying myinvention.

Referring to the drawing, I have shown an electric motor end shield Iprovided with a bearing 2 in which a shaft 3 is journaled. Lubricant isfed to the bearing 2 from a pocket 4 formed at one side of the bearingand communicating therewith by a side opening 5. The pocket 4 also has apair of openings 6 and 1 below the opening 5 and 30 adjacent the bottomthereof, which communicates with a feeding chamber 8 arranged below theopening 5. Oil is fed to the bearing 2 at a uniform rate from asubstantially constant level in the feeding chamber 8 by the capillaryaction of an absorbent material 9 contained in the pocket 4. In order toexclude dust and dirt from the pocket 4 and afford access thereto, acover Ill is hinged at H to the top of the pocket, and thepocket isprovided with a vent opening I2 therein, so that the air pressure in thepocket 4 will remain at substantially atmospheric pressure. The air inthe feeding chamber 8 also is maintained at substantially atmosphericpressure by the filtration of air through the absorbent material 9 and45 through a vent tube l3 secured to the side of the pocket 4 and havinga passage therethrough communicating with the top of the pocket near thevent opening I2 and with the bottom of the pocket adjacent the opening 6and through the opening 6 into the feeding chamber 8.

Lubricant is fed to the chamber 8 from a reservoir l4 through an openingat the lower end of the reservoir, and the upper end of the reservoir issealed and adapted to contain lubricant with 55 air above the same atless than atmospheric pressure. A vent tube I5 is screwed into athreaded opening [6 in the bottom of the reservoir l4 and is arrangedwith the upper end of the vent passage near the top of the reservoir l4and the lower end thereof is provided with a restricted 5 opening I!which extends into the feeding chamber 8 at the desired normal level oflubricant therein. This vent tube arrangement controls the passage ofair from the chamber 8 to the reservoir l4 through the vent tube I5 andthe 10 flow of lubricant from the reservoir to the feeding chamber. Afilling tube I8 is screwed into a threaded opening l9 formed in the wallbetween the reservoir and. the feeding chamber 8 and extends through anopening 20 in the top of the reservoir and is welded thereto at 2|. Acover 22 is hinged to the top of the filling tube to exclude dust anddirt therefrom during normal operation. The lower end of the fillingtube is formed with a tapered conical finished inner surface 23 andopenings 24 are formed in the filling tube adjacent the lower endthereof intermediate the ends of the tapered surface and at a lowerlevel than the opening I! in the vent tube, so

as to be sealed by lubricant and prevent the pas- 25 sage of air fromthe filling tube to the reservoir. These openings provide communicationbetween the reservoir and the filling tube, and an opening 25 formed inthe lower end of the filling tube provides communication between thefilling tube and the feeding chamber, thereby providing a directcommunication between the reservoir I4 and the feeding chamber 8 throughthe openings 24 and 25.

Thus, when lubricant is fed to the bearing, the level in the feedingchamber drops and exposes the restricted vent tube opening l1, admittingair into the top of the reservoir l4 through the vent tube. This causesa flow of lubricant from the reservoir through the openings 24 into thefilling tube and through the opening 25 into the feeding chamber 8. Theresultant rise of lubricant in the feeding chamber continues until theopening I! in the lower end of the vent tube is closed, thus preventingfurther admission of air into the reservoir, and the fiow of lubricanttherefrom ceases when the pressure due to the air and the lubricant inthe reservoir equals atmospheric pressure. In this manner, the oil levelin the feeding chamber is maintained at a substantially constant levelat all times.

whfi it becomes necessary to fill the reservoir,

a filling nozzle 26 is introduced through the filling tube 18, and acomplementary tapered conical finished surface 21 at the end thereofprovides a sealing fit with the conical surface 23 of the filling tube,and the end 28 of the nozzle is closed and fits into the opening 25 andprovides a seal therewith. Openings 29 are formed through the fillingnozzle intermediate the ends of the tapered portion 21, and when thenozzle is fully inserted into the filling tube, these openingscommunicate with the reservoir I4 through the openings 24 in the fillingtube for directing the lubricant from the filling nozzle into thereservoir, and the seal between the nozzle and the filling tube aboutthese openings prevents the flow of oil from either end of the fillingtube or into the feeding chamber. When the reservoir is full, lubricantoverflows through the vent tube 15 and the increased resistance offeredto the flow of lubricant through the restricted passage I! will cause adecreased rate of flow of lubricant, and the pressure within thereservoir will be increased. A pressure gauge 30 is connected to thefilling nozzle 26 and arranged to indicate the increase in pressure inthe reservoir, and thereby indicate to the operator that the level oflubricant in the reservoir is at the upper end of the vent tube I5 andthat the lubricant supply should be cut off. By this arrangement, it ispossible to prevent an excess of lubricant supply to the reservoir whichwould flow through the vent tube and fiood the bearing.

While I have illustrated and described a particular embodiment of myinvention, modifications thereof will occur to those skilled in the art.I desire it to be understood, therefore, that my invention is not to belimited to the particular arrangement disclosed, and I intend in theappended claims to cover all modifications which do not depart from thespirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, is:

1. A lubricating device for a bearing comprising a storage reservoiradapted to contain lubricant below atmospheric pressure, a feedingchamber arranged to feed lubricant from said reservoir to the bearing,an opening providing direct communication between said storage reservoirand said feeding chamber, means having an opening at each end thereofand an intermediate opening communicating with said storage reservoirfor providing a filling passage for said reservoir, means adapted tocommunicate with said reservoir through the intermediate opening in saidfilling passage for supplying lubricant to said reservoir and adapted toprovide a seal with said reservoir filling passage for preventing theflow of lubricant from either end of said filling passage during fillingof said reservoir, and means associated with said filling means forindicating the level of lubricant in said reservoir.

2. A lubricating device for a bearing comprising a storage reservoiradapted to contain lubricant below atmospheric pressure, a feedingchamber arranged to feed lubricant from said reservoir to the bearing,an opening providing direct communication between said storage reservoirand said feeding chamber, a filling tube secured in said opening havingan opening at each end thereof and an opening communicating with saidstorage reservoir, one of said end openings communicating with saidfeeding chamber, and means including an adjustable vent between saidreservoir and said feeding chamber having an opening adapted tocommunicate with said storage reservoir and another restricted openingcommunicating with said feeding chamber for regulating the flow oflubricant to said bearing.

3. A lubricating device for a bearing comprising a storage reservoiradapted to contain lubricant below atmospheric pressure, a feedingchamber arranged to feed lubricant from said reservoir to the bearing,an opening providing direct communication between said storage reservoirand said feeding chamber, a filling tube secured in said opening havingan opening at each end thereof and an opening communicating with saidstorage reservoir, one of said end openings communicating with saidfeeding chamber, means having an opening adapted to communicate withsaid storage reservoir through said filling tube opening communicatingwith said reservoir for supplying lubricant to said reservoir andadapted to provide a lubricant seal with said filling tube forpreventing the flow of lubricant from the openings at the ends of saidfilling tube during filling of said reservoir, said reservoir having avent passage communicating with said reservoir and with said feedingchamber arranged to control the admission of air to said reservoir andthe flow of lubricant therefrom, said vent passage providing for theescape of air from said reservoir during filling and being sufiicientlyrestricted to cause a rise in pressure in said reservoir upon flow oflubricant through said restriction during filling of said reservoir, andmeans responsive to the rise in pressure in said reservoir upon the fiowof lubricant through said restriction during filling for indicating thelevel of lubricant in said reservoir.

4. A lubricating device for a bearing comprising a storage reservoiradapted to contain lubricant below atmospheric pressure, a feedingchamber arranged to feed lubricant from said reservoir to the bearing, apocket opening to the bearing and communicating with said feedingchamber, said pocket having a vent passage communicating with the upperend thereof and with the lower end thereof adjacent said feeding chamberto provide substantially atmospheric pressure in said feeding chamber,absorbent ma-- terial in said pocket arranged to feed lubricanttherefrom to the bearing, an opening providing a direct communicationbetween said storage reservoir and said feeding chamber, a filling tubehaving an opening at each end thereof and an intermediate opening andbeing secured in said opening communicating with said feeding chamberand with said storage reservoir, and means adapted to communicate withsaid storage reservoir through said filling tube for supplying lubricantto said reservoir and adapted to provide a lubricant seal with saidfilling tube for preventing the fiow of lubricant from either endopening of said filling tube during filling of said reservoir.

5. A lubricating device for a bearing comprising a storage reservoiradapted to contain lubricant below atmospheric pressure, a feedingchamber arranged to feed lubricant from said reservoir to the bearing, apocket opening to the bearing and communicating with said feedingchamber, said pocket having a vent passage communicating with the upperend thereof and with the lower end thereof adjacent said feeding chamberto provide substantially atmospheric pressure in said feeding chamber,absorbent material in said pocket arranged to feed lubricant therefromto the bearing, an opening providing direct communication between saidstorage reservoir and said feeding chamber, a filling tube having anopening at each end thereof and an intermediate opening and beingsecured in said opening and communicating with said feeding chamber andwith said storage reservoir, means having an opening communicating withsaid storage reservoir through said filling tube for supplying lubricantto said reservoir and providing a lubricant seal with said filling tubefor preventing the flow of lubricant from either end opening of saidfilling tube during filling of said reservoir, and means including avent tube communicating with said reservoir and with said feedingchamber for controlling the admission of air to said reservoir and theflow of lubricant therefrom, said vent tube being adjustably secured tosaid reservoir and said feeding chamber to provide for adjustment ofnormal lubricant level in said feeding chamber.

6. A lubricating device for a bearing comprising a storage reservoiradapted to contain lubricant below atmospheric pressure, a feedingchamber arranged to feed lubricant from said reservoir to the bearing, apocket opening to the hearing and communicating with said feedingchamber, said pocket having a vent passage communicating with the upperend thereof and with the lower end thereof adjacent said feeding chamberto provide substantially atmospheric pressure in said feeding chamber,absorbent material in said pocket arranged to feed lubricant therefromto the bearing, an opening providing a direct communication between saidstorage reservoir and said feeding chamber, means providing a fillingpassage having an opening at each end thereof and an intermediateopening communicating with said storage reservoir for providing afilling passage for said reservoir, means adapted to communicate withsaid reservoir through said filling passage for supplying lubricant tosaid reservoir and adapted to provide a seal with said filling passagefor preventing the flow of lubricant from either end opening of saidfilling passage during filling of said reservoir, said reservoir havinga vent passage communicating with said reservoir and with said feedingchamber arranged to control the admission of air to said reservoir andthe flow of lubricant therefrom, said vent passage providing for theescape of air from said reservoir during filling and being

